I May Fall
by lightanddarktwilight
Summary: a look at another team in the world of RWBY, we will be joining team NOCT (nocturne) as they go through their own trials and hardships on their way to becoming teammates, friends, and hunters. Will be darker, with romance planned. R/R
1. chapter 1: Nero

**A/n: so after following RWBY since the first trailer I have to say I love the series, and after reading sooooooooo many well done fics I just had to try making one for myself! So sit back, relax, and tell me what you think, after you read it of course, I know you can't really tell me what you think of a story before you've read it….unless you just read the summary and want to tell me about that, but now I'm rambling so without further ado please read and review**

**p.s: I don't own RWBY**

**p.p.s : special thanks to my friend who was a huuuuuuge help during the making of this story**

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"Well that could've gone better" muttered a young man as he walked out of a forest into a clearing, sighing as he ran a hand through his black hair, his blue eyes looking toward the waterfall in the clearing and sees a middle aged man sitting crossed legged on a boulder connected to it, it was clear he was meditating.

"Hey! Samuel!" the young man yelled at him, clearly trying to get his attention, but it didn't work as the man didn't even open his eyes

"I should've figured he would be meditating, it is noon after all" he sighed, he then bent over and picked up a rock which he shortly lined up for a throw, and threw it as hard as he could at the older man, the rock was on a direct course for his face until it was suddenly caught out of the air by the person it was about to hit

"I see your early today" Samuel started as he dropped the rock and stood up, shortly dropping from the boulder he was sitting on and walking towards the boy " it something bothering you?" he asked as he picked up his shirt and coat from where they were and put them on. Samuel looked to be in his late 40's to early 50's and while wearing his clothes, even though they were common every day wear, he passed them off with a dignified look, his graying hair was slicked back and he had a calm look on his face

"Yeah, you could say that." The boy started as he sat on a rock near them "I told them" he finished

Samuel had raised an eyebrow at what he said, because he knew exactly what he was talking about "And what was their reaction?" he asked "it must not have been good if you are here so early"

"Because it wasn't" he told them, a sad look now on his face " they were practically burning with rage and said I wasn't allowed to go to beacon, but when I told them it was the only school I applied to, they realized they had no choice but to let me go there"

"Was your sister there?" Samuel asked

"No she wasn't, lucky for me. I bet she would've enjoyed seeing that happen" he told him

"I see, well either way it is your decision on what to do with your life, and where you go to help you achieve your goals. Give it time, your parents will come around soon enough" Samuel told him

"I know, but sometimes I wish they would let me do things my way, just because I want to be a hunter like my sister doesn't mean I need to do everything she did, the way she did!" the boy exclaimed, standing up and pacing around as he started to vent "that's why I want to go to beacon, where people are less likely to give me special treatment just because I'm someone's little brother!"

"I can understand your feelings, but knowing you for years, I know you are here for more than just venting" Samuel said "especially" he continued "if you are dressed like that"

This cause the boy to smile and look down at what he was wearing, he was wearing a black jacket with an extension sewn on the bottom making it longer that it would be. The zipper wasn't extended to match this so it wouldn't restrict his legs during combat, and there are two pockets on the extension which was used for the storage of any random items. Underneath he had on a dark blue shirt and he also had black pants and combat boots. On his left arm he had on a bracer that went all the way up his forearm and was connected to a finger-less glove, which his hand was in. and on the bracer was what looked to be a symbol of two waves crashing together. even his hair had reflected this, on a normal visit to talk it would all be down and unkempt, but right now his short hair was styled as he liked it, as it still covered his forehead with some strands long enough to go in between his eyes,while it didn't go past the base of his neck, it still went over the top of his ears where it frayed out, and hair hung on the sides of his face, covering the front of his ears as it reached down to his jaw

"You know me so well" he said "I'm leaving tomorrow, so I wanted to have one real match with you" he finished as he began drawing his katana, which was in its sheath on a strap that was around his waist which has the sheath stay on the back of his pants

"well I know from experience I can't dissuade you" Samuel said as he walked into a small house near the water fall, only to come out shortly holding his own blade "now if you hope to even have a chance of beating me, you must use everything I've taught you" he said while getting into his stance

"Got it old man" the boy said with a grin "I hope you're ready" he told him while getting into a fighting stance of his own

"Give me everything you've got Nero, I'll accept nothing less"

All the boy, now known has Nero, did was smile as he charged in and took a swing with his sword, which was blocked, and swung more times as fast as he could; unfortunately all of his strikes were expertly guarded against. Samuel had seen an opening and took it and kicked Nero in the chest, knocking him a good ways back

"I really hope this isn't all you can do, if it is you should consider a change in careers" Samuel said

Having recovered from the kick all Nero did was smile "you can believe this isn't all I could do" he responded as he brought up his left arm and shot a bolt of fire from his hand, this was dodged so he had fired three more as Samuel dodged them all while advancing at the same time, Nero had quickly switched things up as he came closer and now held his sword in a reverse grip as he spun in order to clash blades

"I see you have improved" Samuel told him as the two blades were grinding against each other

"Of course I have" Nero said "and I'm a little offended you haven't used your aura or any dust yet"

Samuel let out a light chuckle at this, "it's all about patience and waiting for the right moment" they both jumped back shortly, sizing up the other and trying to anticipate their next move and it was Samuel who attacked first this time, by throwing out a ball of flame at Nero, but instead hitting him, it exploded into eight separate fireballs in mid-flight and they all flew at their target at different angles. Even though he was forced to dodge them he knew he wouldn't be able to for long because Samuel was controlling them, so as they all converged on him at once he used his aura to defend against them, once they were gone he jumped up and held his left hand out behind him, releasing a stream of flame to propel him straight at Samuel, who responded by making a wall of ice appear in between them, however Nero wouldn't let this get in his way and used his left hand and use his aura to assist him as he punched through the ice, shattering it and continued to attack

"That was impressive" Samuel told him as he started blocking strikes again "you are showing good use of your aura and dust, and your attacks are strong"

"Thanks, but I have a few more tricks up my sleeve" Nero said before Samuel parried his next attack and knocked him away again

"Oh I'm sure you do, but you know how I feel about making something last longer than it needs to be, so sadly I'm ending this" he told Nero before he ignited the ground he was standing on, Nero had jumped back quickly before it went off, but when he looked up he saw Samuel in the air already descending straight at him, and as he did all Nero could do was bring his blade up to block as Samuel brought his blade down on him. This move had ended their sparring match, because while Nero was unharmed, half of his katana was now on the ground

"I should've known it would've ended like this" Nero said as he fell to his knees and looked at what was left of the broken blade in his hand

"maybe, but it was in no part due to lack of skill, you showed good instinct, reflexes, and execution, the only reason you lost was due the decades of experience I have that you don't" he told him "but what is important is if you let this defeat stop you"

At this Nero smiled and stood up "of course it won't, you know how I am once I find something that interests me" he said and then looked to the broken blade in his hand and said "I'm going to need a new weapon though, but I probably can't get a custom one for a few days at least"

As he said this all Samuel did was smile "you won't need to buy one" he told him

"Why won't I?" Nero asked with a confused look

"Because" Samuel starts as he picks up his blade "your old sword being broken is a new start for you, as it shows I have nothing left to teach you"

"But you beat me!" he exclaimed

"Only due to experience" he said as he began to walk over to the edge of the waterfall and pointed at a particular boulder "move or break this if you would" he asked him and without question Nero had raised his hand and blasted the boulder, destroying it, and he was surprised at what he saw

"A cave?" he asked "how long has this been here?"

"years" was all Samuel said before he motioned for Nero to go inside "go inside and bring out what you find" and Nero wordlessly went inside, still confused about why this surprisingly long cave was here the whole time, as he walked he soon came to the end and he saw a thin and long chest with a lock on the front sitting on an old table that was clearly past its prime

"I guess this is what he wanted" Nero said to himself as he picked up the chest and began to start walking out. Once he reached his destination he set the box down and looked at Samuel, who was wordlessly staring into the distance

"ummm-" Nero began but was cut off with by his mentor, who only said two words

"Open it"

Wordlessly he bent down and grabbed the lock, and with one quick pull he broke it, an easy task due to all the years of rust and corrosion that had fallen it, and he opened the box, in awe of what was inside

"Think of this as a going away present from me" he heard Samuel say as he took out the contents of the box, a katana resting in its sheath

"I really don't think I can accept this" Nero said

"You can, and you will." Samuel said, leaving no room for argument "now unsheathe it" he told him now turning to look at his apprentice as he did it

"ok" was all Nero could say as he hesitantly put a hand on the blade, and began taking it out, his eyes growing wider as he saw the blood red blade it had, and moments later, it was completely out of its sheath

"That was something I made years ago, for someone else I will admit, but for the same purpose" he told him as Nero took some practice swings "it may be old, but it can hold its own against newer weapons and the creatures of Grimm. And if you'll notice, it can also be used with dust, which suits your fighting style"

"I" Nero began "I don't know how to thank you, for everything you've done for me" he said as he put the blade back into its sheath

"you have no need to, but I will tell you this" Samuel started "the blade was not made for you, and I know you will run into trouble while wielding it, it will hold strong for as long as you are strong, but if you waver, even for a moment, then so will the blade" he warned, meeting the eyes of his pupil

"I understand" was Nero's reply

"good, and one more thing, the blade was never named, and giving something that you will be close with a name is very important. So you should take the time to come up with one, but don't force it, you know it must come naturally"

"Yeah I know old man" Nero said and "I already had one, the moment I saw the blade"

"Oh, really? Well then let's hear it" Samuel asked

"Masamune" Nero said with a smile

Upon hearing this light chuckle was heard from Samuel "good name" he said "it fits you"

"I'm glad you like it"

"Well it's not my sword so I can't complain, but you should be heading back now, knowing you you probably haven't even finished packing"

Upon hearing this Nero started laughing "you really know me that well huh"

"Yes I do, now go back home and make sure you are ready for tomorrow" he told him

"I'm gonna miss you"

"Yes I shall miss you too, but hopefully you'll come back having actually made a friend, and enough skill for you to land a hit next time we spar" Samuel said with a smile

"Hahaha very funny" Nero said dryly "but I'll try"

"yes I know, now run along, you know how I feel about things being longer than they need to be"

"you don't need to remind me" he said laughing "well I'll be in touch" Nero said as he started walking away, taking the familiar path he had been walking for years now as he was waving goodbye

And all Samuel could do was wave back


	2. Chapter 2: Orin

**a/n: so here is chapter two everyone! Meaning two more then we get to beacon! This chapter has a slower, less action oriented pace to it but it should still do a fine job at introducing the character, so now let us see that character! **

**Btw I don't own RWBY**

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"ok, got my clothes, toiletries, tools, and materials" a young man said to himself as he was going through a checklist in his room, a nicely sized space with a bed right next to the blue wall which his open suitcase was laying on. Most of the other room was now bare as he looked around it. Laying his eyes on a nice sized workbench across the room

"of course Orin, you would forget that" he said as he went over to the workbench and picked up what he was looking at, a picture frame, it was clear it was of two people, one of which being a tall man hugging someone else, but the other person was obscured due to oil being on the frame

"Ugh, really?" Orin asked himself "I need to watch what that stuff gets on" he said as he picked up a rag to wipe it off, and then he looked himself over in a mirror that was on the open door of closet, checking his black shoes, jeans, his navy blue shirt with studs on a black stripe that went along the rims, and his dark blue, double breasted cardigan with a symbol that was a circle, split into eight pieces, and ever other piece was being taken out, while the others were still connected. He was even about to check his black scarf, but realized that would be stupid as oil wouldn't really show up on it, so he opted to check his short, unstyled blue hair for any signs of oil. his green eyes scanning every inch of his hair, and then looking at the metal contraption that was on his right forearm, once that was done his attention was drawn from the mirror to the sound of someone knocking on his door

"It's open" he said as he threw the picture frame onto his open suitcase and turned to look at the person now opening his door

"Hey Ori" a man said "you almost ready to leave huh?" the man said with a sad look on his face as he stepped into the room. He was wearing a simple red shirt and black jeans, his black hair down and wet from his shower, and noticible stubble on his chin. His shoes having been forgotten as he was home and felt he didn't need them

"You know what my name is" Orin said "calling me that nickname makes me feel like a child"

"and that's why I do it" the man responded "because your still the same little tyke that was barely up to my waist, and in those years you've still only progressed a short time in terms of height" he said with a light chuckle, clearly poking fun

"Yes uncle ted, I know I'm short you don't need to remind me" Orin said with a slightly irritated look on his face.

"Why are you calling me that? It's making me feel so old" he said "how many years have I been looking after you? About…..8 by now right? And now your just gonna leave me alone" he continued, feigning sadness

"Your 38 I'm sure you'll be fine by yourself, maybe you'll even get a girlfriend" Orin responded

"Maybe but I'm still worried about you." He told him "do you really need to go to beacon? and after making these….changes to yourself? You know if anything happened I could handle it and take care of you like I promised"

"I know you can" Orin said "but this is about me learning to protect myself"

"I know, I just don't want you getting hurt"

"I know, and I'll be fine"

"Fine, but some tips" Ted started looking at his charge "first, in battle always keep moving"

"Wasn't that lesson one?" Orin asked

"Second" he continued, ignoring him "protect your body, you know what'll happen if a clear shot happens in the wrong place"

"That's common sense"

"Third, since I can't stop you I'm giving you a mission to make at least one friend while you're there"

"ummmmmm ok?"

"So you should be set" ted finished "on a side note are you going to be using it?" he asked

"No" was all Orin said

"Why not?"

"You know why" he told him "you know the consequences that came from it"

"But it's your fathers-"he started but was cut off

"I know, but it's done more harm than good and you know it" Orin sternly told him

"Then how are you going to fight?" Ted asked

"With this" he said, bringing up the contraption that was on his arm

"the hell is that?" he crudely asked he was soon met with a blade ejecting from it, coming close to impaling his throat before it stopped, having hit its full length

"a muti-purpose and distance apparatus" he told him

"That's a stupid name"

"S-shut up!" Orin stuttered "it's cool"

"whats its other name? You know, one you would normally give a weapon" Ted asked

"Its name is Vespidae" he told him and all he was met with was laughter

"What's so funny?" he asked

"It's just that it fits so well" he said in between laughs "your short and you are kinda like a wasp when you're mad!" Orin's response to this was to turn the blade into its second form, which was a wrist mounted crossbow and fire a bolt into the wall behind him. Sadly this did not work to intimidate him as he continued laughing

"And there's the stinger!" he said during his laughing

"I don't know why I even talk to you sometimes!" Orin said as he turned around, only to be met with the arms of his caretaker wrapping around him and the laughing stopping

"I'm gonna miss you little one" he told him

"I know, and I'll miss you too" he said turning around and returning the hug "but I'll be fine on my own" he said as the hug ended

"I know, it's just…wait a minute" Ted said

"What is it?

"What are you gonna do about your-"

"I got it covered" he said cutting him off again

"And I'm still curious about your-"

"Don't be" Orin said cutting him off yet again

"Well ok then" Ted said awkwardly "anyway come on; let's eat breakfast before you leave"

"Sounds good, I've always loved your cooking" Orin said with a smile on his face "you better have made bacon!" he yelled as he ran out of the room

"Like I would forget" Ted said as his he set his eyes on the picture frame one the suitcase with the man who had the same green eyes as Orin, a sad look returning to his face, as he thought about all the things that had changed and happened to his charge


	3. Chapter 3: Cecilia

**a/n: and heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere we are with chapter 3, introducing the next member of team NOCT. I just wanna say thank you to those people giving this story a chance and maybe even sticking with it, so THANK YOU! I also wanted to say that I updated chapters 1 and 2. And without any more distractions let us continue the story!**

**(Slight distraction here I still don't own RWBY)**

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She wondered how she ended up in this situation; handcuffed to a table in and interrogation room at the police station, with nothing but the single light on and her thoughts. With nothing else to do until someone came into the room, she opted for moving around and shaking the chain on the handcuffs, knowing she could easily break them, but after what she went through that night she decided against doing anything that could make things worse.

"Oh yeah" she said to herself "that's how I ended up here" she was alerted to the sound of the door opening and an officer walking in. the officer himself wasn't that impressive, he was bald, wore the standard uniform and she guessed was around 6 foot. An angry look on his face, no doubt meant to be intimidating while he interrogated her. But she noticed the look of disgust he gave her, the look she had received from many people over the years, for no good reason.

But to them, the wolf ears on top of her head, the same color as her dark amber hair,were more than enough. her orange eyes glaring at him as he slammed down a file on the table

"Cecilia Inganno" he began as he started slowly pacing around the room "Faunus, age 17, known for multiple accounts of assault to civilians and police officers, petty theft….from children no less, resisting arrest, and as of tonight the breaking and entering of a well-known, Schnee operated dust store, stealing dust and Lien, property damage, and suspicion of ties to the terrorist group known as The White Fang" he finished as he stopped in front of her, looking her straight in the eyes

"What do you have to say for yourself?" he asked her, expecting some excuse but he was only met with a glare from her piercing orange eyes

"Well that's saying a lot" he told her "look, it's clear the White Fang abandoned you, and with all of your charges we can, and will put you away, so it's best if you help us out here and maybe we can cut you a deal" he tried to reason, but his clear disgust at her Faunus heritage betrayed the tone he was trying to send to her.

And again he was met with silence

"Fine" he said frustrated "know that you will be going away for all of this, and I hope it was worth helping those animals" and with that he left, slamming the door shut leaving her alone in the room again as she began to remember the events that transpired and put her in her current predicament

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(Earlier that night)

It was not uncommon to find Cecilia in what she called her training room, which in actually was an abandoned warehouse that she had filled up with an assortment of training equipment that suited her needs

"18, 19, 20" she counted off as she finished her final set of pull-ups, dropping from the bar she began to survey the rest of her space, which consisted of a climbing rope in the center, light weights in the corner near the pull up bar, practice dummies with targets painted on the chest were put all around the warehouse, on both the first and second floors. There was also a workbench with an assortment of arrows, regular and otherwise, all in various stages of completion, with the tools necessary to complete them, and maintain their sharpness. Surprisingly there were even a small number of throw-able darts, which were basically miniature arrows.

"I'm going to miss this place "she said as she walked to her workspace she picked up a towel hanging from the top of the chair in front of it and began wiping down her sweat in preparation to leave and put on her main outfit over her workout clothes, which basically consisted of a sports bra, and black leather pants which had X's going down the front of each leg, connecting the top layer of leather to itself while laying on top of a layer of cloth. The only area you didn't see the X's were on her knees because they were covered with a thicker layer of leather serving as knee guards. These were a part of her main outfit so they stayed on; she replaced her workout shoes with boots that went up a little more than half of her shins

"I hate tying these things" she said to herself as she began the process of tying her boots, she had to tie the strings all the way up, then a strap that crossed over the front twice before finishing at the top. A tedious process that took her 5 minutes to get the perfect way

"Done with these" she said as she finished tying them, and grabbed the rest of her outfit before going into a separate room to change the rest of her clothes, just because she was alone didn't mean she was willing to take the risk of someone randomly coming inside. She was fully changed within 7 minutes, now having on a sleeveless, black leather top that was partially unzipped showing the green shirt underneath. The shirt itself was low and gave a small view of her wavy hair had been brushed and without her needing out of her face because she was working out and it going past her shoulders, she let strands hang in her face. more specifically some stray strands on her forehead and wavy bangs going past the corners of her the right side of her top was a symbol that looked to be a pair of upper and lower fangs, which were closed. And as she looked outside the window, she realized something

"Well good news is, the rain stopped" she began "The bad news, its past 10:00" she said with a sigh "guess I'll be spending all of tomorrow moving this stuff home" soon she was prepared to leave, only taking with her, her odd looking bow, with the limbs folded in twice for ease of carrying which was on her lower back, and her quiver, which had a cover over the top so she wouldn't appear as a threat at first glance, that was also on her back but on her upper portion, and it was like this she began the walk to her home

"Now here comes the fun part" she said with a smile as she began what she referred to as the "cardio" of her workouts. She started running down the street before turning into an alleyway and straight for a fence in it, before she reached it she jumped and kicked off of a wall to make it over, rolling as she hit the ground and continuing her run in one fluid motion. She then ran and jumped on top of a closed dumpster, and began to run up the wall it was on so she could reach a pipe above it, which she climbed until there was no more of it left to climb. Then, holding onto it with one hand turned her body around and jumped off of the wall and grabbing onto the edge of a fire escape, which she got on and used to get to the rooftops. It was here you could see what she had done to make a familiar route, as she balanced across a long 2x4 that connected roofs with a surprising pace, before continuing her run to the edge of the building where a plank was halfway off the edge. She ran straight at it with no hesitation and jumped onto the next building, where she would vault, over a formation of pipes and uses it to get enough height to grab on the edge of another building. She quickly climbed up and began running again.

It could easily be seen that she loved this, the adrenaline that came from each jump, the freedom of movement, and the overall feeling of freedom itself. Doing this cleared her mind and put her in a trance like state of euphoria, one that she was snapped out of when she heard a scream from the streets

"What the hell?" she asked herself as she stopped running and began to listen and was soon met with the sound of gunshots coming from below. Going to the edge of the building, she looked down and saw a group of people exiting a dust store, they had on masks so she couldn't see any faces, but what she saw on their backs let her know who they were, the group every Faunus knows; The White Fang. Seeing this made her seethe with anger as she thought how they were the reason people were currently afraid of Faunus, the "bad eggs" that ruined the bunch, and she wasn't going to let them get away with this

"Come on let's go!" she heard one of the members yell out as they began to split up, the ones holding cases of dust and bags of money running through the alleyways while the others chose a separate route. She had no doubt that they had a separate rendezvous point and they would meet up, so she followed the ones that had the money and dust, using the rooftops she was familiar with and not being seen as she saw from a rooftop the second group about to converge with the first one in a wider than normal alley that could hold a good amount of people and even allow a vehicle to pass through. So she chose a spot where she wouldn't be seen by a stray glance to the rooftops and waited, taking the cover off of her quiver and un-snapping her bow to its full length, it can be noted that her bow was intricate, and designed for more than just shooting arrows, as the limbs were sharp, and there was a thin, symmetrical, ornate blade that resembled an arrowhead on the center in between the limbs, and the handle for it was oddly an attachment on the side, most likely because of the blade on the front

As one group of members got to the rendezvous point she saw the leader of it put one of his fingers to his ear and she heard him ask for an extraction, and it seemed he had confirmation right as the second group arrived, so she knew she had to act soon, and in preparation, she took out an arrow and notched it on her bow as she eavesdropped on their conversation

"We got the dust" one said

"And I made sure to get us a little extra for our troubles" another member said as he brought up a bag that must have been filled with Lien

"let me see that" the first one asked and the second prepared to toss the bag. Cecilia knew this was her chance, so she quickly pulled back on her bow and released, hitting the top of the bag with accuracy that could only be obtained through years of practice, and the arrow pinned it to the ground. Using the shock to her advantage she shot three more arrows, all hitting the cases of dust that was stolen and knocking them out of the hands of the members who had them, and once the last arrow hit its target she jumped down in the center of the two groups of white fang members, sweeping the feet of one with her bow and knocking them down, she turned and kicked another, sending him into the crowd.

"Who's the girl?" she heard one ask as she stood up. All eyes were on her as she quickly looked around and saw some brandishing guns, while the others took out swords, she didn't worry about the guns because she was in the center of all of them, and she knew they would not risk friendly fire, and her being a Faunus caused some hesitation

"Look little girl" one began "we don't want to hurt a fellow Faunus, so why don't you come with us? All nice and quite like" he tried to reason as she kept her stance, prepared to move as she heard all the guns cocking and preparing to fire "after all we wouldn't want this to be messy now would we?"

She offered no response other than a small smile, which did not go unnoticed by the supposed leader "then I guess this is going to get messy" he said and two members rushed at her with swords, ready to strike her down, but when they got to her she used the one of the sharp limbs to parry one of the blades, and spun, putting away her bow and grabbing the arm of her other attacker and twisting it in one fluid motion. When her first attacker tried to hit her again, she dodged and grabbed his arm as well. Now seeing that their comrades were in trouble the other members of the White Fang began to rush in, but before they could get too close, her eyes began to glow a light orange and with a surprising show of strength, she spun and threw both of the members in opposite directions, both of them hitting the people who were supposed to help them and before anyone else could get to her she ran at the wall, and using the skills she displayed earlier, began to climb it, the only difference this time being that she was getting shot at, so she had to keep moving

"Shit" she said as a bullet came dangerously close to hitting her hand as she leapt to a higher windowsill, looking back at the members for a split second, she saw they had shot down a ladder to a fire escape, and were beginning to climb up to the roof as well, but a few had stayed behind to try and shoot her down, but couldn't as she kept moving and eventually reached the roof, climbing over the ledge just as the White Fang had got up there

"We warned you" the leader said as he gave his fellow members the clear to shoot her, which she was able to dodge by rolling to the side, during which she took out her bow again and when the roll was over she was in a kneeling position and shot the guns out of the hands of two members as they were re-aiming at her, before others could shot at her she ran behind the entrance to the roof entrance to the building, and as she ran she heard one say into his headset

"We ran to some trouble, send in Scar"

She didn't want to know who that was and she had no plans of sticking around to find out and got another arrow ready to shoot as they converged on her location. Quickly popping out of her cover she shot the arrow, but instead of hitting anybody, it hit the ground. Thinking this was their chance they rushed at her only for the arrow to explode, knocking some off the roof and others to the floor. Seeing them begin to get up, she rushed out of her cover and began to fight, using the bow as a melee weapon to block and parry the strikes of her attackers and retaliating with her own attacks. Seeing more men come onto the rooftop, she thought a different approach would be needed as she activated a mechanism on her bow that caused a handle to come out from the end of the blade on the front of it, as the two limbs twisted around to go over the blade on the front, the dull sides of the limbs were now facing each other, and the sharp sides were out, creating a large sword. One that she showed she could use with great proficiency as she dispatched the rest of the members.

"That was easier than I tho-"she was cut off by the sound of a small VTOL, one normally used only for the transport of people, so it had no weapons. She watched as it descended close to the roof and open up from the side to reveal a huge, dark-skinned man in an armored variant of the normal White Fang uniform with untamed black hair, a diagonal scar over his face, and the tail of a lion. What made her eyes widen in surprise was his weapon, an oversized battle axe with a single, large blade that curved over some of the shaft, the blade itself was chipped due to use, for what she didn't want to know, but she also noticed a red crystal in the part that connected the blade to the shaft

"So you're the little mouse who's been causing trouble" he said to her as he jumped onto the roof

"And you must be Scar" she replied "code name I'm assuming"

At this he let out a chuckle "who needs a fake name when it's your actions that define you? The actions that defined me gave me this, so that IS my name" Scar said to her

They each took up a combat position as they evaluated each other. To Scar, Cecilia was a small and fragile girl who could be taken down in no more than two, maybe 3 clean hits. And to Cecilia, Scar was a man she would need to be smart to defeat, but she would need to test the waters, and with this in mind she turned her weapon back into a bow and proceeded to fire arrows at him, but they hopelessly bounced off of his armor, and with the assistance of his aura, they did almost nothing. And in response, Scar laughed as he began to charge at her, and swung his axe with a clear intent to cut her head off. Luckily she was able to roll out of the way and jump back, firing an explosive arrow at his feet during her jump, but this did little more than piss him off as the red gem in his axe glowed, and caused red veins to appear on the blade, he then put the tip of the ax on the ground and swung up, causing a wave of fire to go straight to her.

"Ok he uses fire for distance" she thought as she dodged "but up close he uses the axe itself, my semblance can help me take him out if I get up close but I need to restrict him". Cecilia then pulled out another arrow from her quiver and shot at his feet again, only this time instead of an explosion, his feet had been frozen in place, and she used this opportunity to run at him and in response he swung his axe at her, attempting to do major damage, but she was too fast and he only hit the floor. And before he could bring it back up she fired another arrow at the blade to freeze it to the ground and as he tried to pull it out shot his hands with another ice arrow to freeze them to his weapon. Now fully restricted and bent down Cecilia saw her chance and activated her semblance, causing her eyes to glow a brighter orange in response, and she began to punch him as hard as she could. She got a few good hits in when he decided enough was enough, with amazing strength, Scar broke free of the ice that trapped his hands, and before Cecilia could react, he grabbed her by the throat and lifted her up with one hand

"I'm getting tired of these games little mouse" he said to he as he delivered a devastating punch to her stomach, sending her flying far enough to land on the roof of the next building, the momentum causing her to slide across it. Even with her aura softening up the blow it still hurt, and she knew she couldn't take another hit like that, or it would be over for her. Luckily her bow had just barely landed on the roof with her and was now hanging on the edge, seeing he was just now using the axe to melt the ice around it, she rushed to retrieve it and think of a plan. Quickly coming up with one she hoped would work she grabbed both of her only rope arrows and began to get to work as was trying to break the ice around his feet, which she estimated would be broken in ten seconds

"Look at that I got lucky, it was eleven seconds" she thought to herself as she heard the ice shatter and saw him begin to run directly at her and when he reached the edge and jumped to get to her building he was met with another explosive arrow in the air. Sadly it did nothing as he made the jump and swung his axe to bifurcate her, but this time her expected her to dodge and grabbed her as she came out of it, and he was now squeezing the life out of her in a bear hug

"How does it feel to lose your air little mouse?" he asked her, unfortunately she couldn't answer him, but she continued to struggle. As she felt her aura dropping she put both hands on his face in an attempt to push him off balance or do anything, but even with the help of her semblance, she could only move his head back, she could still see the crazed look in his eyes. In a last ditch effort to get him to release her and spare the last bit of aura she had left, she took out an electric arrow from her quiver, and jabbed him in the neck with it, this shocked both of them, but it served its purpose as he loosened his grip, just enough so she could catch a breath and deliver a hard punch to his face, that caused him to release her completely and she fell to the floor as he stumbled back to the edge of the rooftop clearly still feeling the effects of the shock and the punch

"Giant brute" she coughed out as she barely got back up, knowing her life depended on the next shot she took as she picked up her bow and one of the rope arrows, she aimed for his legs and fired, the tip exploding into a rope that wrapped around his legs, much like a bola, and taking out a second arrow she fired into the building behind him. As he got his bearings together he noticed the rope attached to the arrow that flew past him and how it was connected to the rope around his legs and he knew what she was going to do. Especially when he saw her take a running stance and he noticed her glowing eyes

"Checkmate" Cecilia said to herself as she ran forward, her semblance increasing her speed as she ran forward, and in an attempt to stop her, Scar slammed his axe on the floor and cause fire to erupt in a wave towards her, causing cracks in the ground to appear as he did so, but Cecilia didn't stop, she erased all doubt in her mind. She was in a state of complete focus. She didn't slow down. And when she met the erupting fire, she jumped over it; Barely missing the current eruption by a centimeter as she spun in the air to add momentum to her next attack. A strong kick had been delivered to Scars face, knocking him off of the building and face first into the wall of the next one, knocking him out immediately, but her momentum had kept her going in the air as well. She would have been seriously hurt, if not for her years of experience. Thanks to it she was able to stop herself on the wall, kick off and slide down a pipe to safety on the ground.

"This was not how I planned to spend my night" she said to herself as she looked over Scar's hanging body and thought about the other unconscious bodies that should be around somewhere. "and it still isn't over yet" she thought to herself as she found where she had pinned down the bag of Lien taking out the arrow and picking it up then picking up the case that contained dust "lets return you to your rightful owner" she said as she began walking to the store and was met by the worst thing someone could possibly hear

"Freeze you Faunus freak!" she heard a voice yell

"Excuse me?!" she said as she turned around to meet the face of the person who had insulted her and her heritage. Sadly she was met with a badge and guns being pointed at her

"I SAID FREEZE! AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!" the police officer yelled at her. And that's when she realized how this looked.

A store was broken into

Dust and Lien was stolen

And here she was

A Faunus carrying Dust and Lien that had been stolen

"You don't understand!" she exclaimed "The White Fang th-"

"SHUT IT" the officer yelled as he cut her off and motioned for his partner to arrest her. She was too exhausted and in too much pain to struggle as he put her hands behind her and handcuffed them as he read out her rights.

"So you're in with the white fang huh?" the officer said "thanks for telling me but it looks like they left you"

"No I'm not" she argued "I've been accepted to beacon and what do you mean left? They're all over and unconscious. Just look over-" she stopped herself as she looked at where she hung Scars body, and saw it being pulled over onto roof by another member of the White Fang

"Looks like you're just the scapegoat, don't worry, we'll take good care you back at the precinct" he told her with an evil look in eye

* * *

(Now)

As she finished remembering the nights events, Cecilia had remembered two things. The first was how she wanted desperately to take a shower, and hopefully in her own home. The other thing was her weapon. Luckily she didn't need to wonder as the door opened up at that moment

"Where is it" she asked the bald police officer with a clear anger in her voice

"Talking now are we? Well sorry little girl but I don't know what your talking about" he said

"Isolato Cacciatore" she said

"What?" he asked

"My bow"

"Oh you mean that probably stolen weapon of yours? Don't worry it's in lockup, but after your behind bars it'll just be collecting dust." He told her almost happily "I'm sure eventually we'll need to get rid of it, so we'll probably sell it, if we don't melt it down for parts that is"

All he was met with was a mumble

"Oh what was that?" he asked as he leaned in closer, thinking he broke her

And she spit in his face

"wrong move little girl" he said as he quickly wiped off his face and grabbed her hair and pulled her head back, his thumb nail was digging into one of her wolf ears as he raised his other hand up to strike her. But as he brought it down it was caught by someone else

"Leave the girl alone" this man said

"But captain she-"

"STAND DOWN!" he told him

"But she's with the White Fang!"

"If you cared to look at any evidence, such as the video feed from those alleys you would see that she fought against them" the captain said as he brought up his scroll and showed him footage of her fighting off the White Fang members "now for the last time, STAND DOWN"

Begrudgingly the officer left the room with a sour look on his face, and Cecilia could now get a good look at the captain, a man whose hair and face was showing his age, he wore black rimmed glasses, and was sporting a mustache; both his facial and regular hair had been graying along with the wrinkles on his face.

"Your mother is here for you" he told her only to be met with the same glare she gave the other officer, clearly not trusting him just because he _seemed_ nice. Other humans had _seemed_ nice to her before, and that never worked well for her before.

"here, this should allow you to get your weapons out of lockup" he said as he wrote something on paper with his signature and put it on the table before he went to unlock the cuffs, but Cecilia, not wanting to be touched anymore, quickly activated her semblance and broke them off. She then grabbed the note, stood up and went to the door before stopping.

"thank you" she told him as she left that dreaded room


	4. chapter 4: Trevas

**A/N: so wonderful thing, I've been getting feedback about this story! And it's helped me realize that while I showed a good portion of their personalities, their physical appearance….not so much. So special thanks to lioncousin for pointing that out, and by the time this is out I'll have updated the other three chapters with more details on how the characters look, while also cleaning up other mistakes I find. And also I'm sorry about the amount of time It took to get this out to you guys, ive been busy with school and my new job, which has deadlines I need to meet, but I wanted to get this out because I love you guys. So all you guys need to do is read and review, it keeps me motivated to keep getting these chapters out to you guys**

**(And no I still don't own RWBY)**

It was a quiet day. Even when a forest is home to the creatures of Grimm it can be quiet as they go about their business, such is the case of a Beowolf. Normally pack hunters, this one surprisingly was off on its own as it was looking for a meal. It wandered into a small clearing, its nose turned up in the air as it detected an unfamiliar scent around it, and turning around to the direction it was strongest, but was only met with a loud bang as it fell to the ground dead, with a pair of bullet holes that had pierced through the bone like armor on its head

"Well it looks like the piercing round worked well" a voice said as a young man could be seen jumping from a tree, in the very same direction that the Beowolf looked in before it was shot. His outfit was simple; it consisted of blue jeans which had a large pocket on his right thigh, and red and black sneakers, and on his upper body he wore a grey sweater that hugged his body, it was only zipped up halfway, so the dark red shirt he wore was clearly visible. On his left hand was a thin black glove, and while one was missing from his right hand, in it he had a gun, but it wasn't an ordinary gun, it was a revolver with two barrels, one on top of the other. It was black in color, and ornate, as it was decorated with designs on the barrel. Another interesting fact about this young man and his appearance was that he had an odd, silver object on his left hip, it had a hole on the top, and five pointed protrusions on the bottom.

"Well this sucks" he said as he started scratching his head with the gun, his brown hair had started blowing in the slight breeze, which was long enough to reach the nape of his neck in the back, while the rest was short and barely reached the top of his ears and some hung down on his forehead

"Great, the one Beowolf to stray and its armor covered so much skinning wouldn't yield many results" he said to himself as he looked at the sky, he saw it would be about an hour or two before the sun would set so he had some time to get something that would make a sizeable profit

"Might as well go see what I have so far" he said as he holstered his gun in the pocket on his thigh and started to walk through the forest until he found a hollowed out tree. He reached in and pulled out a bag, opening it he began to count what he had accumulated that day

"15 Beowolf fangs, 6 Ursa claws and pelt, 2 Boarbatusk tusks, 3 feathers from a baby Nevermore, and 3 large bone fragments from various Grimm." He let out a sigh as he finished "guess I may as well head back and sell this stuff before it gets dark" and with that he slung the bag over his shoulder and began to walk back to town, accompanied by nothing but his thoughts

"I hope the guy is feeling generous when he buys this stuff, who knows when I'm going to be able to make another payment" he thought to himself "maybe I can do the same thing when I'm at beacon" he continued, but his train of thought was broken when he heard sounds coming from the bushes around him, and he quickly dropped the bag and pulled out his gun, aiming at where he heard the sound. His arm relaxed when he saw nothing, but not completely as he didn't put it away, he waited as he heard another sound, this time from behind him, and he turned around and fired three times in that direction, he emptied the chamber and reloaded at the confirmation he wasn't alone as he heard another sound from another direction, but still couldn't see anything. So he closed his eyes and waited, and everything was quiet, until he heard on more sound from behind him again, but his reaction was quicker this time, and after he fired he heard the immediate sound of pain from a Grimm

"Got ya" he said as he opened his eyes opened and he saw the creature that had been stalking him a similar trait to Grimm, it was covered in black fur, it walked on all fours and had bone like protrusions along its spine and had a long, bone-like tail. Bone-like armor was in sections along its sides, and on its bone mask were three horns, two on the top of it, and one lower. Its black and red eyes darted around the area.

"A Furcifer, well that explains why I didn't see it" he thought to himself as he watched it fade into the background, using the natural camouflage it had to its advantage, before appearing upside down on a tree branch and shot out its silver tongue at the young man, who was able to swiftly dodge before it hit him as it impacted on the ground with enough force to create a hole in it. And in response the young man had shot at it two more times before having to reload. Once again it disappeared from his sight before appearing to his left and shooting out its tongue again, this time latching onto his gun and pulled it into its mouth

"damn it" he thought "I need to get that back" and he immediately put his left hand into the object on his hip, his fingers going into each of the sharp protrusions and extending them out as it covered the rest of his gloved hand. Then it had extended to cover his forearm in the metal, the activation now complete as he moves his metal covered fingers and enters a fighting stance, ready to anticipate its next move.

He stayed still, watching it. Until he noticed it swallow something that was in its mouth….

"You have got to be kidding me!" he said out loud as realized what it swallowed, and in the middle of his rant it had shot its tongue out at him again, but before it got to him he was able to guard with his armored hand as it latched onto it and began pulling him towards itself. The young man had dug in his feet, knowing the damage this Grimm could do to him, but that gave him an idea, as he let himself be pulled in, and as he predicted it bit down on his arm as hard as it possibly could. Normally this would've been able to sever a limb from a person, but thanks to his aura and his claw-like gauntlet it did next to nothing, in fact it had ended up hurting itself, breaking teeth on the gauntlet, and it tried to get back as it was in pain, but was unable to as its opponent had held onto the base of its tongue. It had tried to thrash about but was unable to because of the hand on one of its horns, which was twisting its head to the side

"I" he began through the strain of the current struggle "want….my gun…back" he finished as he pushed his arm deeper into its throat, causing it to vomit and soon he felt the metal of his gun make contact with his metal covered hand, as he quickly put a foot on the bottom of its mouth, and used his left hand to hold the top part to keep its mouth open as he withdrew his right hand from the horn, and grabbed the vomit covered gun.

"Disgusting" he said as he activated a mechanism on the gun, causing it to transform. The barrels expanded and became one large barrel, as it became longer, now finished with its transformation into its second form, a shotgun, he fired once into its mouth. This had killed it instantly as he felt its body go slack and he pulled his hand out of its mouth, looking at his vomit covered hand and gun his face turned a sickly green color, as he dropped t and ran into the bushes behind him, where the sound of vomiting could be heard

"Oh my god" he said as in a slight pause before he began to throw up even more. It had taken him 15 whole minuets to recover from that. And another 5 to run to a nearby stream and clean himself and his gun off before it caused him to throw up again and yet another 10 to walk back to where his stuff and the dead body was. When he got back he looked it over and realized something

"Well I guess there is a silver lining" he said as he went through his bag and pulled out a hunting knife before turning and looking back at the Grimm.

* * *

It was a slow day at the towns hunting supply store, the owner was a large and hairy man, and was doing his normal routine to get ready for closing, which included dusting off the wall mounted Grimm heads, putting away bait, and locking up the sales floor weapons. This was interrupted by the bell that signal when a customer had arrived

"Hello and welcome to-"he began as he turned to the customer, before smiling at the familiar face

"Trevas, my boy! I almost thought you wouldn't be able to make it today!" The man said with a clear accent as he greeted the familiar young man with a bear hug, lifting him off of his feet

"Yes it's good to see you too Angus" the young man, now known as Trevas said as he was let down

"So what is it you have for me today? Must be something grand considering today your last day no?" he asked as he eyed the bag he kept with him

"Yeah I got a few good things, let's get to the counter and I'll show you"

"Yes yes good good" he said enthusiastically as he led Trevas to the store counter, where he began unloading the spoils from todays hunt

"these fangs, tusks and claws are in good condition," Angus said as he examined it " and the pelt is in perfect condition, and small enough feathers to write with, good find my friend!"

"Well I got one more thing for you" Trevas said as he took out something that was silver and in a roll

"Is this what I think it is!?" Angus asked

"Yup, the tongue of a furcifer" he said proudly

"This is good surprise!" he said as he began taking out lien to pay Trevas

"So how much are you going to sell that for?" he asked

"Silly child I am not going to sell this!"

"Then what are you going to do with it?"

"Eat it of course!"

"Uhhhh WHAT?" Trevas asked very surprised at what he heard

"Yes! Where I come from this is good delicacy" he told him. At upon hearing this Trevas once again turned green as he remembered what had happened in getting that tongue and soon enough he was snapped out of it when Angus had taken his hand and gave him a sack full of lien

"Whoa" he said as he opened it and looked inside "I can't accept all of this

"Of course you can! Think of it as going away present" the older man told him

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! Now run along, as I have dinner to cook"

"Thanks a lot Angus" Trevas said with a smile as he left the store "now this should be able to hold them over for a while" he said to himself as he walked the building where he needed to drop off the larger than normal sum of money, as he thought about his future at beacon.


	5. Chapter 5: a few introductions

**A/N: so I cant tell you guys how excited I am to finally begin the real meat of this story! So thank you to everyone who read up to this point and I hope you all will continue reading! And special thanks to my friend who still helps with this story to the point that he's basically my co-writer, and to another one of my friends who reads this story and gives me pointers, this helps because she's a much better writer than I am! Now that my sincere thanks are out of the way, I want to point out a few things about this story:**

**1: teams RWBY and JNPR will appear, but this isn't a story about them so their roles will be minimal**

**2: I will be referencing certain things about the community, such as common themes**

**3: I will also be introducing some new concepts in this story; you'll know it when you see it**

**4: no I do not own RWBY**

**So now that all this is out of the way, onto the chapter! Please r/r**

* * *

Beacon academy, a prestigious school that exists to train aspiring hunters and huntresses to combat the creatures of Grimm. Because of its location, the main method of transport was by airship, especially for new students. Even though it wasn't a hard task to show up before the ships left for beacon, some new students still found some….difficulties, along the way

"Shit, shit, shit, shit! I can't believe this!" a young man said as he ran through the streets of vale, his short black hair flowing in the wind, and the sword on his waist hitting the back of his legs with each step he took

"Of all the days for me to sleep in it just has to be today" he thought as he turned a corner swiftly, avoiding ramming into an old man at the last second as he continued running to his destination which he could now see, the airships that would take him to beacon, but then he heard the dreaded words no late student would want to hear

"LAST CALL!" the man in charge yelled, and this only made him run even faster. As he was almost at his destination, he saw the man who yelled last call begin to walk inside the ship, and knowing that the doors would close behind him only made the young man go even faster, and as the door began to close, he managed to jump in and hand off his ticket to the operator, but with his current momentum he was unable to stop, and ended up crashing on the ground.

"Ugh that was close" he said before he heard a slight growl

"Get off" a feminine voice sternly said as he opened his eyes and saw the back of someone's head, with two animal ears on top of it. The realization that he was on top of someone caused him to quickly scramble onto his feet

"I'm really sorry about that" he said as he extended a hand to help her up, but she got up on her own and glared at him, with piercing orange eyes that seemed to look into his soul

"uh-ummmm-uhhhh" he stammered trying to say anything while under her gaze, but the one thing he does say, he regrets

"Soooo you're a Faunus huh? That's….a…thing?" he trailed off as he realized how that sounded and he only saw her glare harder at him, if that was even possible

"Not that it's a bad thing!" he quickly corrected "or that you're a thing" he continued "I'm just surprised that of all the people I could've crashed into, it had to be a Faunus… not that I regret crashing into you because you're a Faunus! But because-"

"Stop talking" she said cutting his rambling short and in response he quickly shut his mouth before he said anything else. And she began to walk away, his eyes following her before letting out a sigh

"Talk about first impressions" he said to himself "great and now I'm talking to myself, I need to stop doing that"

"You really should" another voice chimed in

"Wonderful, now there are voices. So I'm probably losing my mind"

"Or you could just turn around" the voice said again. This caused him to turn around and look at the source of the voice, which turned out to belong to a very attractive young woman. She was wearing a black, sleeveless catsuit, which accentuated the curves of her toned body, and it was zipped down to show a white top under it and more of her…._assets, _she also had on a black short sleeved bolero jacket. Upon closer inspection of her catsuit one could see patters of lines weaving around on it. She had also accessorized it with a number of straps, 3 on each side of her midsection and 3 on each leg, which also had a pair of slim, dark colored greaves protecting them. She also had two belts crisscrossed on her waist, hanging off of her right side from one of the belts was what looked to be two rods, and to finish off her outfit were a pair of dark grey low heeled boots, and fingerless gloves, which had a symbol in white that was a dot with a series of curved lines around it, none of which were touching. Her hair was black and short, the only part that made it to her face was on her forehead, and that was lightly swept to the left, complimenting her bright blue eyes and lightly tanned skin, but the most shocking part of her physical appearance was something that could tell a story, her arms. Because they were covered in a plethora of scars, but they didn't seem to affect her smile, because she currently had one

"You know, there are things you can do other than stare" she told him, the smile never leaving her face "like introducing yourself"

"Oh, right sorry" he said, a little embarrassed "my name is Nero Nachtamar"

"Well that's a mouthful" she told him

"Well shouldn't you introduce yourself before making fun of other people's names?"

"Fair enough, I'm Morrigan. Morrigan Annwn" she told him

"Nice to meet you"

"Likewise, and this is…" she motioned to her left but trailed off when she saw no one was there as Nero was just standing there thinking she was crazy

"God. Damn. It" she slowly said "come with me" and with that she grabbed Nero's hand and practically dragged him across the airship to a corner where they found a girl wearing what could be seen as a more modest an inversed version of what Morrigan was wearing. She had on a white undershirt and sleeveless blue vest with all three buttons done, despite not showing any cleavage this accentuated her bust (which was smaller than the girl who brought him to her). Over that she had on a customized light jacket that instead of buttons or a zipper had two straps over the front connecting the opening that Nero guessed was how you closed it. The jacket had two coattails on it that went down to her knees; the whole thing was white and blue in color, with white being the main one while the blue was placed to complement it. Her pants were blue jeans with a white fading effect on them and she had on a pair of dark grey boots. Her hair was platinum blond and hung in a fishtail braid that currently hung over her shoulder and onto her chest, while some bangs hung in her face. From his position Nero couldn't see her eyes, only the silver framed glasses she wore as she was busying herself with furiously dragging a pencil across a pad she had in her lap, and an odd looking sniper rifle was lying next to her.

"AHEM" Morrigan said rather loudly

"Hello Morrigan, how did introducing yourself to that guy go? Was he still stammering on like an idiot when you got there?" she said without looking up from what she was doing

"Well you can ask him after you introduce yourself" Morrigan said, this caused the girl to look up at both of them, her brown eyes now visible to Nero as she said nothing

"What is with women just staring at me like that today?" he thought to himself "ummm hello" he said to the girl still sitting down

"Hi" was all she said

"I'm Nero Nachtamar"

"Diana" she replied quickly as she continued what she was doing

"Sorry about her, she isn't the most talkative when you first meet her" Morrigan said

"What is she doing?" Nero asked her but instead of getting a reply from Morrigan, he got one from Diana, "if you want to know what I'm doing, shouldn't I be the one you ask?" she rhetorically said

"Sorry" he apologized "what are you doing?"

"Drawing"

"What are you drawing?" and at this question she looked at him again before saying "you ask a lot of questions, you know that"

"Diana be nice" Morrigan told her "it wouldn't hurt if you made some more friends"

"And I suppose that's why you approached him? Because you think I need friends?"

"No I did it because he seemed nice"

"Well then he's your friend, not mine" and as they continued on like this, Nero just stood there feeling left out as there argument continued to go back and forth and degraded to almost childish levels

"Yeah well you're just upset because my boobs are bigger!"

"Oh please the only thing those make you look like is a cow"

Ok completely childish levels, and he was surprise how Diana was being more talkative, but then he realized these two must have known each other for years, but the argument these two were having was beginning to draw attention so he needed to do anything to stop it

"so can I see your drawing!" he said loud enough to get the attention from the both of them, and it worked as they both looked at him, and Diana had actually given him her pad to his surprise, and the image on it, as well drawn as it was, still embarrassed him

"Of all the things you could've drawn why this?" he asked her with a tinge of pink on his face from embarrassment

"What is it anyway?" Morrigan asked as the pad was passed to her she started laughing at the drawing and the recent memory, considering it had happened right before they took off and she was a witness to it

"If you must know" Diana began "your little accident was the first thing I saw that would make a suitable picture, and you being on top of her seemed like the perfect moment" she rationalized

"Gee thanks" he dryly said as a hologram appeared out of nowhere, it was of a blond woman in glasses and cape

"Huh?" he said

"Cool!" Morrigan thought

"Meh" was Diana's opinion

"_Hello and welcome to beacon"_ the woman began "_my name is Glynda Goodwhich, and you among the privileged few who have received the honor of being selected to attend this prestigious academy, our world is experiencing an incredible time of peace, and as future huntsmen and huntresses it is your duty to uphold it. You have demonstrated the courage needed for such a task, and now it is our turn to provide you with the knowledge and the training to protect our world._

"Well that was interesting" Nero said

"It must be timed, so were probably getting close to beacon" Diana thought out loud. And this comment caused both Nero and Morrigan to go look out the window, both in awe as they finally laid eyes on the academy in person, as Diana got ready to get off once the airship landed

"You two realize we aren't here to enjoy the view right? She told them as she put her sniper on her back and started stretching

"Oh hush you" Morrigan said, "You gotta enjoy the little things, have some fun, live a life that isn't boring!"

"And I'm sure you can do enough of that for the both of us"

"You are just a bowl of sunshine"

You should know that by now"

"Guys?" Nero said

"Maybe your just frustrated, maybe you should…you know"

"Oh god not this again"

"Umm guys!?" he said a little louder, trying and failing to get their attention

"Well I'm just saying it helps, if you need help or something you know I have no problem with-"

"No I don't need to do that! Why is that always your first suggestion!?"

"GUYS!" he yelled and they suddenly both stopped and looked at him "Uhhh it's time to get off" he told the two women

"Trust me it's been waaaaaaaaaay past that time for Diana" and at this Diana just let out a sigh, knowing how her friend was she knew there would be no point in arguing as they finally got off of the airship and took their first steps on the campus of beacon. Looking down the main avenue they saw the assembly area where they would need to go.

"Isn't there a name for an assembly area like that?" Morrigan asked no one in particular

"Yes it's called an amphitheater" Diana said

"So what are everyone's plans?" Nero asked "because I'm going straight to the assembly area"

"We're going exploring!" Morrigan said excitedly

"We are?" Diana asked?

"Yup we gotta see the grounds, I'm sure there will be some cool things around here" she explained

"Well I'm sure you two have some time, so I guess I'll catch you two later" Nero said

"Bye Nero, maybe next time you can show me how you use that sword of yours" Morrigan said with a sly smile on her face

"Don't mind her" Diana quickly said before he could say anything stupid "she just makes these jokes of hers a lot" she finished as they began to walk away and as they gained some distance the last thing Nero heard put a blush on his face. Which was "who says they're jokes?"

"well those two are an interesting pair" he said to himself as he walked to the assembly area, and as he walked through the gate to the assembly area he noticed some guy around his age with brown hair and light purple eyes with a gun on his thigh counting some Lien in his hand while chuckling to himself, and then he looked up and locked eyes with Nero who began to just ignore him. He stopped for a second when he heard someone suddenly yell out

"HEY WHERE THE HELL IS MY WALLET?" this caused Nero to look at the boy again and walk towards him with an increased pace, and in response he threw something black further into the amphitheater, this drew Nero's attention for less than a second, but when he looked back the boy was gone.

"well this is turning into a weird day" he said to himself as he looked at the object that was thrown, only to see a short boy with blue hair and a black scarf pick it up and opened it, and unfortunately this drew the attention of a certain individual

"HEY! YOU!" Someone yelled, bringing both of their attention to the source of the voice, he was tall with short auburn hair and he wore armor with a bird depicted on his breastplate. He was approaching the boy who picked up what Nero thought was the wallet that was lost, or in this case stolen. When he got to him he easily picked up his small form by the front of his shirt

"So you think you're funny huh? You wanna steal my stuff?" he said to him "well now I'm gonna show you what happens when you mess with Cardin Winchester" he told him as he reared back his fist to punch him as his victim struggled to get out of his grip but closed his eyes as the fist got closer, waiting for the hit….that never came. When he opened his eyes he saw someone who go in between them and used his forearm to stop the blow

"What are you helping this thief for?!" Cardin yelled at the intruder

"Because he isn't the thief" Nero said "if you cared to pay attention and think things out, you would realize how stupid it would be to just be holding a wallet that he stole. So. Drop. Him" he sternly told him, to be glared at yet again that day, before Cardin suddenly dropped who he was holding, unprepared the person fell to the ground

"You want this runt? Then take him" he said as he grabbed his wallet and stormed off. After watching him disappear into the growing crowd, Nero turned to the guy who was still on the floor and extended a hand to him

"Thanks" he said as he took his hand and got up, he started to look around, which Nero had chalked up to embarrassment, and awkwardly until the guy suddenly introduced himself

"I'm ….." he said too quickly for him to hear

"You're what?" Nero asked

"I'm Orin, and…thanks for helping me" he shyly said

"No problem, I'm actually surprised no one else helped you"

Orin let out a sigh at this "probably because they were intimidated, and if I can't handle a human then how am I supposed to fight monsters?" he said, a crestfallen look appearing on his face

"Well that's why we're here isn't it? To learn how to handle these things to not only protect ourselves, but others too" Nero responded and at the words Orin perked up

"Yeah I guess we are"

"So buck up and keep your head held high, I'm sure you're a good fighter with…." He trailed off as he looked him over "whatever weapon you have" he finished, and Orin chuckled upon hearing this "it's this thing" he said while bringing up his right arm, showing him the weapon he used for combat

"this is-" he began but was cut off by the sound of a microphone being turned on and a man clearing his throat, clearly meaning to grab the attention of all the teenagers currently in the amphitheater.

"I'll keep this brief" he began "you have travelled here today in search of knowledge. To hone your craft and acquire new skills and when you have finished you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you and all I see is wasted energy, In need of purpose, direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step" he said and soon stepped off the stage, as Glynda stood in front of the microphone

"You will gather in the ballroom tonight, tomorrow your initiation begins. Be ready. You are dismissed" was all she said and the sound of talking could be heard from the crowd of students once again

"That's it?" Nero asked

"Looks like it" Orin said "is something wrong? Were you expecting something else?"

"Well I dunno, I just thought there would be like…fanfare or something"

"Fanfare?" Orin asked him

"Yeah he just kinda, you know gave it to us, there was no fanfare" he told him

"You are a special kind of person aren't you?" Orin asked while looking at Nero with an eyebrow raised

"Hang out with me more, you'll get used to it"

"I'm starting to question if I want to" he muttered


	6. Chapter 6: let's get started

**A/N: sorry for the long wait everyone, but I've just been soooooooo busy lately and I could barely find the time to write, between moving back home from college, getting things in order, trying to fix some messed up relationships, and my job I've been swamped, but that doesn't mean I'm gonna stop this story! So without further ado, let's carry on! Please read and review as always you beautiful people **

**Still don't own RWBY btw**

* * *

It was nighttime at beacon academy as the future students had already changed into their sleepwear and convened in the ballroom, getting ready to rest for the trails that awaited them tomorrow, and while some had already went to sleep, others were still up, due to either being unable to, or talking to someone they came with, or even a newly made friend. Such is the case for two certain students

"so what took you so long to get ready?" asked Nero as he sat on his sleeping bag in his sleepwear, which consisted of a simple grey shirt with his symbol on it, and a pair of black basketball shorts.

"Welllllll" Orin said, dragging out the word "we all have different habits and stuff" he finally said as he sat down on his sleeping bag, bringing his knees to his chest and resting his arms on them

"True, so since we finally have some time, let's get to know each other better" Nero said

"What did you have in mind?"

"Well why did you come to beacon? Why be a hunter?" at this Orin's eyes grew a little wider as he remembered his reasons for coming to the school. He let out a sigh and said

"Well something happened to me when I was younger, and I want to make it so it doesn't happen to anyone else" he finished

"Wow" Nero responded "that's a tall order, you sure you're up for it?"

"Not as I am now, but in future I know I will be" Orin said with a determined tone in his face as he turned to Nero and asked him "What about you? Why do you want to be a hunter?"

"I want to make my mark on the world, and if I can do that by slaying some monsters and helping people, then why not?" he said

"That's noble of you"

"Yeah" then Nero leaned in closer to Orin causing slight discomfort among the latter, before he said "Maybe we should take this to the next level!"

"N-Next level? W-What do you mean by t-that?" Orin stuttered with a blush on his face

"Isn't it obvious?"

"Uhhh I d-don't k-know"

"You and me" Nero said as he leaned in even closer "Partners" he finished while looking his friend in the eye

"P-partners?"

"Yeah, I heard we get matched up with partners during whatever the initiation is and you seem like a good guy so we should be partners" he explained

"O-oh yeah that sounds cool" Orin said as the blush began to disappear from his face

"Are you ok?" Nero asked him "You seem a little uncomfortable"

"I'm fine, I just haven't been in a room with so many people before, they're all so different and it just takes some getting used to" he explained as he watched a girl with long blond hair drag a girl with short red hair across the ballroom with one hand

"Yeah I know the feeling, but wouldn't you have gotten used to it from your previous school?" Nero asked

"I haven't gone to a regular combat school"

"Really?!" Nero exclaimed "but then what would you put on your application for them to accept you? He asked

"I've been trained and home schooled"

"Wow they must have been good if they did it themselves"

"Yeah…he was" Orin said with a smile as he remembered his caretaker "you know-"he began but was cut off by the snoring of his only friend, now asleep on his sleeping bag. He smiled at the sight of this and thought about staying up with his thoughts, but was snapped out of them when he heard people suddenly yell out

"OH NOT YOU AGAIN!" looking over to the source of the noise he saw 4 girls, the blond and the redhead from earlier along with a girl with white hair and blue nightgown, and a black haired girl reading a book, or at least trying to. He looked on with curiosity as the girl with the book blew out her candles, and Orin had decided it was a sign to go to sleep

* * *

There are few teenagers who wake up early on their own, and there are even fewer who enjoyed it. Diana was one of these few people. She sat up in her dark blue nightgown, her loose hair cascading down her back as she gazed upon the sleeping form of her best friend, who was currently mumbling something about grapes in her sleep. With a slight smile she gets up and heads to the bathroom, gathering her supplies and getting into the shower. The thing she liked the most about mornings was the peace that came with them. It was an added benefit that she seemed to be alone in her love of waking up early, so she could even further enjoy the peace. She loved Morrigan dearly, but it was nice to be by herself every once in a while. Stepping out of the shower to grab a towel she was met with one hitting her in the face. Taking it off to see her attacker, she was instead greeted with the tired face of none other than Morrigan, in the sweatpants and oversized Achieve Men shirt she slept in. even her short and manageable hair was a little unkempt. In her arms she had hers and Diana's clothes, and laying on top of the pile where Diana's glasses

"I woke up and you weren't there" Morrigan said, handing off the clothes and stepping into the shower, closing the door and Diana could hear the water begin to run "There was no one else who looked like they were about to wake up….except this one orange haired girl who seemed to never run out of energy, but last I saw her she was waking up some guy, probably her boyfriend. I wonder how he puts up with her…anyway, she was the only one so you shouldn't need to worry about getting dressed there" she said

"I see" Diana said already doing the 3 buttons on her vest, having already put everything else on except her jacket, which she chose to put on later. "So how did you sleep?" she asked her friend as she began brushing her teeth

"I had a weird dream" Morrigan began "like I was in this weird purple world, where everything was purple, but then I looked closer and saw everything was made of grapes. And then I ate a building that was made out of them. Then everyone was mad I ate that building, but after I showed them why I ate it, then they loved it and ended up eating the entire city. And after I woke I realized something" she said as she got out of the shower, now clad in a towel and fully awake

"And what was it that you realized?" at this question Morrigan smiled and looked directly at her friend

"That people. Like. Grapes" she said, putting emphasis on each word, and only to be met with her shirt hitting her face

"Shut up and get dressed so we can eat" Diana said with a slight smile as she turned away to do her hair as her friend got dressed, and once they were both ready and "lookin hot" as Morrigan put it, the walked down to the cafeteria to get breakfast, where Diana had eggs while Morrigan had pancakes, and shortly they were joined by Nero, who had someone they didn't know with him

"Hey Nero" Morrigan greeted "whose your friend?"

"Oh right" he said "this is Orin, I met him yesterday right before professor Ozpin made that boring speech, Orin this is Morrigan and Diana" he finished as they sat down with their food, Orin looking a little more awkward as things went on.

"He seems uncomfortable" Diana noted as she took out her sketchpad and looked at Orin, who was looking down at his lap, his food barely touched, and she began drawing

"Something wrong? Or are you just a bit awkward around girls?" Nero said taking a bite of his own eggs and bacon

"I'm fine" Orin said, "just…..still not used to this" and at this his gaze moved from his lap to his food, and he began eating slowly

"well I think he's cute" Morrigan said "he's like the cute little brother type" she finished with a slight laugh, only making Orin blush and sink deeper into his seat, luckily for him, their attention was diverted when someone new came to their table and asked a question that a lot of people in any school lack the courage to say

"Can I sit here?" this new person asked. He was taller and well built; he had light red, short, and messy hair and green eyes. He had ripped, green camo pants tucked into dark brown boots that went halfway up his calf, it could be noted that there on the back and sides of each boot was metal, which seemed to be layered. He also had on a sleeveless dark brown shirt and an open dark green sleeveless jacket. On his hands he had on dark brown, fingerless boxing gloves, these weren't normal however as most of it was made out of metal, including what stopped at his fingers, the pad on top, and even the parts that are around his wrists. On his chest was a symbol that was partially obscured due to his jacket, it looked to be a rock, or more precisely a mountain, that was almost split completely in half by a giant crack. He was also currently holding a plate stacked with pancakes

"Of course you can" Morrigan said, and he quickly sat down and began eating his huge breakfast

"So I can assume you two are going to be partners?" Nero asked trying to continue the conversation

"That's the plan" Morrigan said as Diana was still drawing a picture "I can't imagine what it would be like if we weren't partners"

"Sorry for interrupting" the new guy said as he swallowed another bite of his meal "but even if you two don't end up as partners you can still be on the same team" he finished as he continued eating with giant bites

"Team? What do you mean?" Nero asked, looking at him curiously as he swallowed again and gave an answer

"I hear that two sets of partners are matched up into a team of four, so even if you aren't partners, you could still be teammates" he explained "to be honest" the new guy continued "I figured you four came here together and were planning on being a team with each other"

"Really?" Nero said with a chuckle "well I know those two have been friends for years" he said while motioning to Morrigan and Diana, the latter of which was still drawing, "And I met him right before the opening ceremony" he finished while motioning to Orin "but thanks for the info….ummmmm" he dragged out when he realized he didn't know the name of the person he was talking to

"Ulfric, Nerva" he told him. The way he introduced himself seemed to be rehearsed and disciplined, as if he had done it many times before

"Well Nerva, it's nice to meet you" Nero said "it is Nerva right?"

"Yes" he said "Now if you'll excuse me I'm off to go prepare for the initiation" he said while getting up and leaving the cafeteria, taking his empty plate with him

"Oh that's right! The initiation will be starting soon!" Nero exclaimed as he began shoving the rest of his breakfast in his mouth and downing the rest of his milk in one go, before getting up and rushing to the locker-room to get his equipment, leaving the other three behind

"So Orin, why are you looking so uncomfortable?" Morrigan said to the shy boy across from her "Are you just not used to being around girls? Cause I know a few ways to help out with that"

"…..Nope!" he said quickly and got up to go to the locker room, just as Diana finished her drawing and looked up

"You scared him off huh?" she said knowingly as she ate the last of her breakfast and got up

"Well then I guess you're just more man than he is" Diana didn't even dignify that with a response as they made their way to the locker room

* * *

The locker rooms, where most of the new students stored their weapons before being official students, the high tech rocket lockers were simple, as they simply required a code to open, but much like the airships, some still found difficulties….

*BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP* the sound of a code being entered could be heard, along with the slight whimpering at the sound this young man had heard so many times

*BZZTZZZ*

"awwwwww come on" the student said

"What are you doing?" a voice behind the student said as he was about to enter the code again. Turning around he came face to face with Nero. This student had a copper skin tone with brown eyes and dark hair. His hair was down and swept back, with some strands coming off the top while still going back. He had on a simple black shirt and dark grey pants with black shoes. He was an inch or two shorter than Nero, but his body was still well toned

"I'm trying to get into my locker" he said with a whimper as he tried to open it again, only to fail

"I think the reason you're not getting in is because that's my locker, yours is right next to it "Nero told him as he motioned to the locker to the right. At this the young man had turned to the locker and put in the code, and to his surprise, the locker opened, revealing his weapon and armor to him

"Oh my god, thank you!" he said while giddily putting on his armor "I've been here for over a half hour!"

"That sounds like it sucks, and here I thought you were trying to break into my locker" Nero said as he opened his own locker, pulling out his sword and fastening it on his normal resting place then taking out his bracer and putting it on his left arm, right before Orin came in from breakfast and went to his locket where his weapon was, which happened to be the other locker that was next to Nero's

"Hey Orin, so I'm judging by the look on your face Morrigan said something?" Nero said as his friend was busy fastening his weapon on his right forearm

"I don't wanna talk about it" he said with a blush on his face

"Fair enough. Oh and you never told me what that things name is" Nero said as he looked at his friends weapon.

"Oh yeah, its name is-"but was cut off before he could finish

"THAT'S RIGHT!" the young man who was putting on his armor randomly exclaimed "I never introduced myself!" he said as he walked up to Nero, now fully armored with a pair of dark purple greaves, a pair of gauntlets that instead of a fully armored hand, ended in a glove that had light armor on the top, a thin breastplate that had a smaller layer of armor under it to cover his abdomen and thin shoulder guards. It should be noted that all this armor was very intricate and ornate, his breastplate even having a depiction of two wings that overlapped over a spear pointed upwards. On his back was his weapon, which was a spear with a wicked looking blade, as it had two parts out of the side reminiscent of a trident, and the center blade was very sharp and kept a purple and red color scheme. On the purple shaft of the spear was an odd handle and even a trigger

"I'm Ciro Aequum" he said while grabbing Nero's hand with both of his own and shaking them very quickly

"I'm Nero" he said a little creeped out at this display. Looking to Orin for help he was met with nothing but a look that said "you're on your own"

"Oh my look at the time" Ciro said, his head snapping up "it's time to participate in the initiation! We will meet again!" and with that he ran out, leaving both Orin and Nero confused as to what just happened.

"So….the name?" Nero asked again, cleary trying to forget what just happened

"It's-"Orin started

"Hi Guys!" Morrigan yelled out, cutting off Orin as she approached, with Diana right behind her, her odd looking sniper on her back "Ready for initiation?"

"I give up" Nero said with a sigh as he left for initiation, leaving the three of them behind, the two girls looking at him curiously.

"Was it something I said?" Morrigan asked and Orin just shrugged as the three of them left the locker room, ready for the upcoming initiation

* * *

The lineup of freshman for initiation showed many faces, some uneasy or scared, while others were excited, and surprisingly some even showed little interest as they stood on panels that rested on the cliff overlooking the forest. On these panels stood Nero and all the other people he met within the last 24 hours. Their attention went to Ozpin as he and professor Goodwitch began with their opening words

""For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest." Ozpin said

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of 'teams'. Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today." Professor Goodwitch informed them. This caused some heads to turn and look around at the people who could be their partner

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well. That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years." Ozpin continued. This caused Morrigan to nudge Diana with elbow and smile, while Nero and Orin shared a look

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die." Ozpin said. These words caused some of the student to look excited, while others looked scared at his calm tone

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" He finished looking over the group, stepping back when no one apparently had any questions.

"Good, now take your positions" he told them as each student got into their own stance, Nero lowered his body and reached behind to put his hand on the hilt of his sword, Orin had his weapon ready as a crossbow, Morrigan was holding one of the two rods that normally lay rested on her side, and Diana was holding her sniper rifle, Nerva had taken a simple boxing stance, Ciro had his spear ready and even that girl that Nero had crashed into on the airship was there, holding her red and black bow with an arrow notched. And shortly Nero felt gears turning from the panel he was on, and he knew what was going to happen, clutching his sword tighter as he prepared to get launched, all he said were three words

"Let's do this"

And with that he was sent flying

* * *

**A/N: Really sorry this took so long guys, but I've been super busy, and now I want to explain something, looking through the episodes and doing some math I came to a conclusion, if there are 20 relics, 10 white and 10 black, each color having 5 pairs of the same to match teams of 4, then each color can bring forth 5 teams, both colors making 10, meaning there should be 40 freshman. Now when looking at the launch site shown in the first step, we see much less than 40 panels, meaning that the students must be sent in groups for the initiation, or some other reason. so Nero and Co. are in a group separate from the one that Ruby and the gang was in, namely the one before, as Ren and Nora were the last students to be paired up, and I would say the next group would be launched in about ten to fifteen min. just to clear things up**


	7. Chapter 7: things get heated

**A/N: so hopefully I will be able to have this chapter out sooner; cause man did my life speed up. But on the bright side I may be able to get those parts to build my pc soon! Then I can do stuff like editing, recording gameplay and doing commentary! Doubt anyone would watch me though, anyway enough of my rambling, as always please read and review to tell me how I'm doing. Enjoy**

**Man I wish I could own RWBY, but I don't**

* * *

If there was one thing everyone could agree on at this one moment, it would be that the fall was exhilarating. Being so high in the air, the sound of the wind whipping past them, the feel of adrenaline coursing through their veins, sadly it would need to come to an end as they all began to employ their "landing strategies"

* * *

Nero pulled out his sword as he began descending; shooting small bursts of fire beneath him to slow his descent. When he got close enough to the trunk of a tree he was able to stick his sword in it and spin on the handle as if it was a bar, before jerking his body upwards and pulling it out of the tree, landing on a branch, looking up he could see some of the others above him

* * *

Orin was nervous as he began descending. He knew he had a single shot, or things wouldn't turn out well so he had to be careful. Seeing the area he was close so landing in was had a light layer of branches, he used his wrist mounted crossbow to fire a bolt at the thick branch, a wire connecting the two as he used it to swing down to the ground

"That was a close one" he said to himself

* * *

Morrigan was happily laughing as she was flying through the air, enjoying the wind against her face. On her descent she took out her second rod from her side and dropped it, not batting an eye as it disappeared below her. Suddenly she vanished from the sky. She was now where the rod that she dropped was, below the leaves and branched of the forest with the rod back in her hand, however she still had the same velocity as she neared a tree trunk. Throwing one of her rods past it, she suddenly appeared at that location once again, and repeated this process until she got close enough to the ground to roll and carry her momentum into a run

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" she yelled as she ran

* * *

Diana had a much more passive expression on her face as she flew through the air. She suddenly brought up her sniper and fired shots, using the heavy recoil to slow herself down. Now near the top layer of trees and below terminal velocity, she fired shots at the ground to bring herself high enough to grab onto a branch, taking time to survey the surrounding area before she dropped down to the ground

* * *

Unlike most people at the initiation, Nerva didn't have a way to slow his descent, but as he began to fall, he used what he did have, his durability. He activated his weapons, the metal on his boots enveloping them completely, even going up his leg, and covered his the top and sides of his feet, the back of it going halfway up his calf, while the front only went up to half of that, his gloves had expanded to cover most of his forearms, the top heavy "pad" of it supplied most of the metal for that expansion, so it thinned out enough to be a smaller layer of metal on the back of his hands, on his knuckles there was now spike like curves. His fingers became encased in a thin layer of metal that did not hamper their movement as the transformation of his gauntlets and greaves were now complete. In their activated form one could see faint tribal markings on them. He let out a slight smile as he approached the ground at full speed, and landed feet first, creating a small crater on the ground where he landed

"That went well" he said to himself as he did experimented moving around his limbs "and no damage…other than my aura anyway" he noted as he deactivated his weapons, opening and closing his hands as he started walking "I got some energy from that though, so it may have been a good tradeoff"

* * *

Trevas had a landing strategy much unlike the others, instead of using something to slow his descent; he shot with his weapon as a shotgun to increase his speed, and as he got to a particularly tall tree, he put out his left hand in its gauntlet, and the pointed top split and shot out, connecting to the tree as a grappling hook. He was then able to swing from one tree to another, shooting a hole in the trunk of the next tree and grabbing the inside of it with his armored hand. Looking down to see if it was safe, he then slid down the tree when he saw no Grimm in the area, his gauntlet leaving claw marks as he want down

* * *

Much like Morrigan, Ciro was also enjoying his time in the air, but oddly enough, he had control over his movements. He was doing such things as spins and other aerial maneuvers before somehow going to the ground, when he was a few feet from the ground he was able to straighten himself out before landing softly on his feet, and then began to casually walk forward

* * *

Carefully holding her notched arrow as she flew through the air, Cecilia was waiting for the moment when she would start to fall, scanning the area as she did so, and looking for areas that were not as dense. When she felt herself falling, she aimed carefully and aimed at where she felt she was going to land, and shot her arrow. Righting herself as she fell down, she passed the first layer of branches and saw that her shot had worked perfectly, the ice arrow she shot had detonated on the edge of a branch and still hit the ground, trailing the ice to effectively make a slide, which with great skill, she slid down and was on her feet when she hit the ground, unfortunately for her the slide had ended into the eyes of Grimm, a few beowolves to be exact

"Well….shit" she dryly said to herself as one lunged at her. She rolled under it and fired an arrow at the one behind it, hitting the beast in its chest, but that didn't kill it, just made it angry. She then turned her weapon, Isolato Cacciatore into its sword form. She then spun out of the way of a swipe from the third Beowolf, and cut off its arm, before sending it back with a kick. Quickly turning her weapon back into a bow she shot an arrow at the first one she avoided and shot it in the joint of the leg with her arrow, slowing it down enough to shoot another arrow in its eye, killing it. She then ran up and pulled the arrow out of the joint and jammed it in the throat of the Beowolf whose arm she cut off earlier as it tried to attack her from behind, but as she killed it, the one left alive charged at her. Turning around to deal with it, she used the sharp edges of the bow to cut it in half. Seeing the Grimm that attacked her all dead, she put her weapon away and turned to continue walking before suddenly stopping. She sniffed the air a few times before turning around and taking her weapon out of its standby form, to come face to face with an Ursa that had been attracted by the sounds of its fellow Grimm. It had attacked her, only for her to roll out of the way and fire a few arrows, but they bounced off of the armor on its face, and it charged her, but before it could get close enough, someone was suddenly leaping over it from behind. There was a flourish of a blade as the Ursa stopped in its tracks as the person landed with his head down, the sword being slowly put back into its sheath, and it was almost there as this new person paused in putting away his blade, before suddenly pushing it in all the way, and after the telltale sound of a sword being finished sheathing the head of the Ursa had suddenly began to slide off of the rest of its body as the person began to stand. She recognized him as the person who crashed into her on the airship yesterday

"Is this really the same babbling fool from yesterday?" she thought to herself as she watched him turn around to look at the dead Ursa her opinion of him changing for the better, until…

"Ha! I can't believe I finally pulled it off! Those style points are mine!" he cheered as he pumped his arms in the air in victory.

"Never mind, it's the same fool" she thought as she saw him turn around, their eyes locking. It took them both a second to realize what just happened. They just became partners.

"Well…..I guess we're partners huh" Nero awkwardly said to her, in an attempt to lighten the mood or get her to say something, or anything aside from just giving him bad looks. All she did was walk past him saying only four words

"Don't slow me down"

"H-hey can I at least have your name?" he asked "I'm Nero" she then turned her head to look at him and said curtly said

"Cecilia"

"That's a nice name" he said as he began to catch up to her

* * *

Orin was walking through the forest, careful for anything that might jump out at him. As he walked through some bushes he saw a small group of boarbatusks, with their tusks taken off and I other areas of the clearing

"Nero must have been here!" though Orin as he followed the trail, hoping to find his friend to team up with him. He heard the telltale noises of Grimm in the area, along with the sounds of someone fighting them. Poking his head through the next set of bushes, he saw someone with dark brown hair holding a boarbatusk by its tusks, being pushed back by its strength, the noise of the bushes caused him to turn his head at the source, locking eyes with Orin.

"I don't know who you are" he said, still struggling against the Grimm "but since we're partners now would you kindly pass me my gun over there?" Orin looked around and saw the ornate revolver, ran to it and threw it to him, in response he let go of the boarbatusk and rolled away from its charge, grabbing his gun out of the air and aiming it at the still charging Grimm, as it got close enough he shot it three times in the face, killing it

"Now that that's over with" he said putting his gun away and turning to face Orin "I guess we should begin with the introductions….and apologies. So on that note, I'm Trevas" he said

"Orin, and what did you mean by apologies?" he asked

"Oh yeah about that, well if you remember yesterday when someone stole that wallet you got blamed for" Trevas said, letting Orin draw his own conclusion

"That was YOU!"

"Yeah it was. Sorry about that, but it turned out well, for both of us. It looks like you made a friend, and I got some cash" he said as he continued walking

"Dick" Orin muttered under his breath as he followed Trevas

* * *

"Diaaaaaaaaannnnnnnnaaaaa" Morrigan yelled out as she was walking "Are there at least any Grimm who want to keep me from getting bored? Sorry to say you'll end up like that guy!" she yelled as she looked behind her and smiled, a dead Ursa on the ground with a large icicle in its chest

"I wish SOMETHING would happen" she whined as she continued walking, before suddenly stopping

"What is that smell?" she asked herself "Smoke?" before someone suddenly yelled

"LOOK OUT" and with that she was promptly tackled to the ground, a burning tree hitting the ground where she was let that a second ago.

"Hey get off me!" she said as she tried pushing the larger man off of her

"I'm trying to help you" he said in his defense before he got off and they locked eyes

"GOD DAMN IT! I WANTED DIANA NOT YOU!" she yelled as the guy started looking around nervously

"Well we have bigger problems right now" he said

"Like what?" she said mid rant and turning around to see what he was worried about….. A forest fire that had seemingly come out of nowhere

"I would say this fire" he told her

"Shut up Nerva" she said "and seriously, what kind of retard would light the forest on fire? Like really! Everyone knows you don't use fire in a forest, because this happens!"

"On the bright side we can just go the other way" Nerva said trying to be optimistic, seconds before another burning tree fell, cutting off their best path of escape

"OK well at least we don't need to worry about any Grimm right now" he said right before they heard the distinct howling of Beowolves…a lot of them. Morrigan just gave him a look that said "please shut up"

"They can be anywhere" he tried as one suddenly leaped out of the flames at them, he quickly activated his gauntlets and greaves and gave it a devastating punch, sending it back into the flames.

"I'm sure it's only one of-"

"Stop talking, you're only making things worse!" she said as they instinctively went back to back, Morrigan also taking out her two rods, on a closer look showed that they each had clear spot on the shaft that showed an ice blue substance, the were a decent length for her and the top seemed to be a little bit bulkier, and it had slits going along the outside of the top. Where she was holding it was a light blue wrapping, complementing the black that was the rest of the rod

"Escrima sticks huh? Not bad" Nerva complimented as he saw movement within the flames

"Flattery will get you nowhere, no matter how nice your muscles are" Morrigan said as she too saw movement, before suddenly another Beowolf leapt out at her, she then swung at it with both sticks, along with the ice dust, she was able to push it back before swinging one of the sticks in its direction, sending forth an icicle to impale it, then they both saw more and more Beowolves coming out of the fire into the large clearing they were in. circling their prey as the fire raged on, before one Beowolf, larger than all the other had perched itself on a large rock and howled

* * *

Diana was walking through the forest, using her sniper to scout ahead and make sure there were no Grimm, and also if she could see Morrigan. She knew she could trust Morrigan to take care of herself, but she knew that friend of hers always found herself in the middle of some trouble, causing her to think back to how she got her scars

"Don't think about that now" Diana said to herself "just find her" as she continued walking she heard movement in the tree behind her, she instantly turned around and fired twice into the tree, and something fell out that she was not expecting

"OW" someone said as they fell to the ground, then looking up and locking eyes with Diana "Hello! I'm Ciro" he said

"Diana" she said introducing herself, offering a hand to help him up, which he took.

"So I guess we are partners now" he said

"Yeah. Not good" she told him

"Oh I am sorry" he apologized

"It's not your fault" she assured him "it's just that there was someone else who might not take our partnership very well. She was looking forward to working together with me"

"Ok well maybe we can find her" he said

"Well it shouldn't be too hard, just find a trail of destruction or…that" she said as she pointed to a line of smoke in the air

"How do you know she is there?" he asked

"Well by one of three reasons" she started "first: she started that fire, I wouldn't put it past her. Two: it started up around her"

"Is she that unlucky?" Ciro asked

"Sometimes, yes. And the third reason is someone else started that fire and she went there because she thought it would be fun"

"She seems like a very interesting person" Ciro noted

"Trust me, this is just the tip of the iceberg" Diana told him


End file.
